The National Safety Council (NSC) estimates that 380 people may be killed on the roads during the upcoming Memorial Day holiday period. It is the first time in four years that NSC is estimating less than 400 fatalities for the three-day holiday period.
An additional 43,300 people are estimated to be seriously injured on the roads over the long weekend, which begins at 6 p.m. Friday, May 24, and ends at 11:59 p.m. Monday, May 27.
“Although we are experiencing a plateau in fatality trends, we are still losing an unacceptable number of people on our roadways, and this holiday may be no different,” said Ken Kolosh, Manager of Statistics at NSC. “If we pay attention, slow down and be courteous, we can increase our chances of making it to picnics, beaches and barbecues rather than emergency rooms.”
NSC highlights that summer tends to be a deadly period on the roads, and the warm weather holidays are even deadlier. Historically, when compared to Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day, the three summertime holidays – Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day – typically claim more than 110 lives each day, the highest average per-day fatality rates.
